1984

1984

1. Dangers of Totalitarianism

   • Totalitarianism is a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state
     • Adolph Hitler's Nazi Germany (1934-1945)
     • Soviet Union under Josef Stalin (1924-1953)
     • Mao Tse Tung (1949-1976)
     • Benito Mussolini's Italy (1922-1943)
       • “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state”
   • 1984 is a political novel that warns readers in the West of the dangers of totalitarian governments. Orwell designed 1984 to sound the alarm in Western nations still unsure about how to approach the rise of communism after his personal experiences.
     • When fighting in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) he was shot in the throat by a Facist sniper
     • John Newsinger, Biographer
       • the other crucial dimension to Orwell's socialism was his recognition that the Soviet Union was not socialist. Unlike many on the left, instead of abandoning socialism once he discovered the full horror of Stalinist rule in the Soviet Union, Orwell abandoned the Soviet Union and instead remained a socialist – indeed he became more committed to the socialist cause than ever."
   • Title and setting suggest how Totalitarianism can develop in any country. London 35 years after book was completed
     • "The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasise that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere - Orwell
   • Orwell warns us by creating the seemingly ultimate Totalitarian regime aided by an advancement in technology
   • The key element of totalitarianism in Orwell's 1984 is Big Brother
     • Big Brother is everywhere. On posters and in nearly every aspect of daily life. Big Brother controls what you do, think, eat and even feel. Big Brother controls everything -- information, history, physical and psychological needs. He is a friend and the enemy of your enemy. He will protect you and save you.
       • “Big Brother is watching you”
       • Similar to the cult of Lenin and Stalin who presented themselves as saviors of mother Russia in posters
   • The government of 1984 maintains power through force and intimidation. The government of Brave New World retains control by making its citizens so happy and superficially fulfilled that they don’t care about their personal freedom. In Brave New World the consequences of state control are a loss of dignity, morals, values, and emotions—in short, a loss of humanity.

2. Control

   • Control through Technology
     • By means of telescreens and hidden microphones across the city, the Party is able to monitor its members almost all of the time. Additionally, the Party employs complicated mechanisms (1984 was written in the era before computers) to exert large-scale control on economic production and sources of information, and fearsome machinery to inflict torture upon those it deems enemies.
       • Brave New World warns of the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies. One illustration of this theme is the rigid control of reproduction through technological and medical intervention, including the surgical removal of ovaries,
         • Huxley was Orwell's teacher at Eton
   • Psychological control
     • The Party barrages its citizens with propaganda in an attempt to overwhelm the mind’s capacity for independent thought
       • "2+2=5
         • Ignatius Loyola , founder of the Jesuit order of priests said to his followers that they should believe white is black, and black white if the Church required it
     • The giant telescreen in every citizen’s room blasts a constant stream of propaganda designed to make the shortcomings of the Party appear to be triumphant successes.
     • The Party undermines family structure by inducting children into an organization called the Junior Spies, this brainwashes and encourages them to spy on their parents and report any instance of disloyalty to the Party.
       • In Maoist China children were told to spy on their parents! The same can be seen in Nazi Germany through the Hitler Youth
     • In Micheal Radfords film adaption of 1984(1984) Party members salute by raising their arms crossed at the wrists with clenched fists. This gives them the appearance of being handcuffed symbolising they are under control of BB
   • Physical control
     • In addition to manipulating their minds, the Party also controls the bodies of its subjects. The Party constantly watches for any sign of disloyalty, to the point that, as Winston observes, even a tiny facial twitch could lead to an arrest.
     • The Party forces its members to undergo mass morning exercises called the Physical Jerks, and then to work long, grueling days at government agencies, keeping people in a general state of exhaustion. Anyone who does manage to defy the Party is punished and “reeducated” through systematic and brutal torture.
   • Control of Information
     • All information, including history, is controlled by the government in 1984
       • 'Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.‘
     • At the rally, the government switches sides in its never-ending war with Eastasia and Eurasia. Citizens panic, realizing they had made the wrong signs
       • This is like how in Nazi Germany, the Nazis were one day not enemies of the Soviet Union and the next day they were (Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, 1939, Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union, 1941). Propaganda, and forever rewriting the past to serve the present and the future, is presented as information and news in 1984. If Big Brother says it, it must be true.
   • Language control
     • One of Orwell’s most important messages in 1984 is that language is of central importance to human thought because it structures and limits the ideas that individuals are capable of formulating and expressing.

3. Individual vs social system

   • Urban decay
     • One of the themes of 1984, inspired by the history of twentieth-century communism, is that totalitarian regimes are viciously effective at enhancing their own power and miserably incompetent at providing for their citizens
       • The London that Winston Smith calls home is a dilapidated, rundown city in which buildings are crumbling, conveniences such as elevators never work, and necessities such as electricity and plumbing are extremely unreliable. Though Orwell never discusses the theme openly, it is clear that the shoddy disintegration of London, just like the widespread hunger and poverty of its inhabitants, is due to the Party’s mismanagement and incompetence.

4. Human failings